Yoga: A medium for communication and learning.

Yoga: A medium for communication and learning.

Podcast featuring Dr. Beth Berila and Chelsea Jackson.

Dr. Chelsea A. Jackson discusses yoga as a “medium for communication and learning.” In her work with marginalized teens, she uses yoga and storytelling as a way to empower youth to speak their stories. She describes yoga as a reciprocal relationship between student and teacher, both in the yoga and in the K-12 classrooms.

In this podcast, Jackson describes how yoga helps us develop critical awareness of how systems of oppression affect us differently. Whereas some critics think of yoga as a “refuge” from difficult conversations, Jackson says yoga helps us reflect upon why that seeming refuge is not welcoming to some. She issues a call to action for leaders in the Western yoga world to better reflect the diversity of people doing the practice.

“But yoga is also deeply valuable as a self-care practice,” says Dr. Jackson. “It helps us cultivate our awareness, learn to sit with discomfort, and develop the compassion to forge more authentic communities.”

Dr. Chelsea A. Jackson specializes in yoga for youth, teacher education, and issues surrounding yoga accessibility. She received her Ph.D. in 2014 from the Division of Educational Studies at Emory University, where she is currently a post doctoral fellow. She is also an experienced yoga teacher who is developing a yoga and literacy curriculum for Atlanta area youth organizations.

Beth Berila, Ph.D., LLC, RYT is the Director of the Women’s Studies Program and Professor in the Ethnic and Women’s Studies Department at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota. She is also a registered yoga teacher and is completing her 500-hour Yoga Teacher Training program at Devanadi School of Yoga and Wellness.

She is a founding board member of the Yoga and Body Image Coalition. Her current projects merge yoga and meditation practices with feminism and mindful education to create a form of socially engaged embodied learning.